People
Importing from a spreadsheet
Bring a whole school in from Excel — templates, every column explained, and how errors are shown.
On this page
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Schools already keep their people in spreadsheets. Alviyora reads those spreadsheets rather than asking you to retype them, and it checks every row and shows you the problems before it writes anything.
There are five imports:
| Import | Where | What it creates |
|---|---|---|
| Learners | Learners → Bulk Upload | Learners, and optionally their guardians, linked |
| Guardians | Learners → Bulk Upload Guardians | Guardians, linked to learners who already exist |
| Staff | Staff → Bulk Upload | Staff with roles, and their teaching subjects |
| Teacher assignments | Academics → Teacher Assignments → Bulk Upload | Which teacher takes which subject in which grade |
| Timetables | Timetable → Class / Exam | A class’s week, or an exam schedule |
How every import works
The learner template
Five columns are required. The rest are optional, and the Guardian block is the one worth filling in — it creates the parent account and links it in the same pass.
| Column | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First Name | Yes | |
| Last Name | Yes | |
| Date of Birth | Yes | YYYY-MM-DD is safest |
| Gender | Yes | Male, Female or Other |
| Grade | Yes | Must match a grade you created |
| Section | The class within the grade. Leave blank if the grade has none | |
| Leave blank and a username is issued instead | ||
| ID Number | ||
| Phone Number | ||
| Home Language | ||
| Guardian First Name | Required if any guardian column is filled | |
| Guardian Last Name | Required if any guardian column is filled | |
| Guardian ID Number | How siblings are matched — see below | |
| Guardian Phone | The number SMS goes to | |
| Guardian Email | ||
| Guardian Relationship | mother, father, guardian, stepmother, stepfather, grandparent, other | |
| Emergency Contact Name | ||
| Emergency Contact Phone | Used for SMS if no guardian number exists | |
| Home Address | ||
| Previous School | ||
| Medical Aid Number | ||
| Allergies |
The staff template
| Column | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First Name | Yes | |
| Last Name | Yes | |
| Yes | Staff always need an email — it is their login | |
| Phone Number | Yes | |
| Roles | Yes | One or more, separated by ; or , — e.g. Teacher or Admin; Teacher |
| Title | Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr | |
| ID Number | Required when the row includes the Teacher role | |
| Date of Birth | Required when the row includes the Teacher role | |
| Gender | Required when the row includes the Teacher role | |
| Employee Number | ||
| Qualification | ||
| Subjects | Subjects they teach, separated by ; or , | |
| Emergency Contact Name | ||
| Emergency Contact Phone | ||
| Home Address | ||
| Start Date |
Role names must match your school’s roles — including any custom ones. Teacher, Admin, Principal, Bursar, whatever you have created.
The guardian template
Use this when the learners are already in the system and you are adding parents afterwards.
| Column | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First Name | Yes | |
| Last Name | Yes | |
| Yes | ||
| Phone Number | Yes | |
| ID Number | Yes | |
| Learner ID Numbers | One or more learner ID numbers, separated by ; or , — this is what links them | |
| Relationship | mother, father, guardian, stepmother, stepfather, grandparent, other | |
| Title | ||
| Gender | ||
| Date of Birth | ||
| Occupation | ||
| Work Phone | ||
| Home Address |
Learner ID Numbers is how a guardian reaches their children, so the learners must already have ID numbers on file. If they do not, import the guardians through the learner template instead.
Phone numbers
Numbers are normalised as they are read, against your school’s country. A local
number typed the way people say it — 071 123 4567 — is understood. A number that
cannot be parsed at all is flagged on its row rather than saved, because a broken
number costs money at the SMS gateway and delivers nothing.
What happens on import
- Accounts are created with temporary passwords, or usernames where there is no email address.
- Existing people are matched, not duplicated. A guardian ID number already in the system links to that guardian rather than making a second one.
- The whole import is one entry in the Activity Log — one line reading “imported 340 learners”, not 340 lines.